[Stay Review] Kamogawa Grand Tower: A Best-Value Kaiseki Dinner Near Kamogawa Sea World

This time I’m introducing a high-rise condominium hotel in Kamogawa, Chiba:Kamogawa Grand Tower.

It’s close to the sea with ocean views, and it’s about 2 minutes by car or about 10 minutes on foot to Kamogawa Sea World, so it also works well for a stay before or after your visit.

If you want to stay at Kamogawa Grand Tower but wonder what it’s like, or you’re thinking of staying near Kamogawa Sea World but can’t decide where, this article is just right for you, so please read to the end.

Who Kamogawa Grand Tower Is Best For

Kamogawa in Chiba is known for its Pacific coastline: swimming and surfing in summer, and in autumn the foliage at Yoro Valley is especially beautiful.

Also, Kamogawa Onsen, a simple sulfur cold mineral spring that opened in April of Heisei 15 (2003), has become popular in recent years.

Around Kamogawa, Katsuura, Onjuku, and Yoro Valley there are roughly 200 hot spring ryokan and hotels, large and small.

Since it’s a trip you’ve been looking forward to, nobody wants to choose the wrong place to stay, right?

For this trip I wanted to visit Kamogawa Sea World, so I chose Kamogawa Grand Tower, and after actually staying there, here is who I think Kamogawa Grand Tower is best suited for:

Let’s go through them one by one.

① You want ocean views from a spacious room with a living room and kitchen

Kamogawa Grand Tower has every room facing the sea: Kamogawa‘s coastline is visible from all rooms, a true ocean view.
Rooms with light from two sides let in sunshine, which feels wonderful!

② You want to stay at a hotel with luxurious kaiseki meals

Kamogawa Grand Tower‘s dinner is served at “Ikesukago” on the 1st floor, where you can enjoy fresh fish caught in the sea off Kamogawa as the centerpiece of kaiseki cuisine.

Appetizer, soup, sashimi, steamed dish, grilled dish, rice course, pickles, and dessert are brought out one at a time.

③ You want to stay near Kamogawa Sea World

Kamogawa Grand Tower has good access to the aquarium theme park “Kamogawa Sea World”, with easy access: 2 minutes by car or about 13 minutes on foot away. It works for a stay either before or after your visit, which makes planning your sightseeing very easy.

Next to Kamogawa Sea World is the Kamogawa Sea World Hotel, where you can enter the park multiple times during your stay, making it ideal for families with children.

Access to Kamogawa Grand Tower

Kamogawa Grand Tower is the only resort tower-condominium-style hotel in southern Boso with a living room and kitchen.

By car, from Kimitsu IC on the Tateyama Expressway, take the Boso Skyline (free), Prefectural Route 24, and Route 128 toward Katsuura, about 35 km.

By train, it’s about 2 hours from Tokyo Station to Awa-Kamogawa Station, then a 10-minute walk.

* Prices show the lowest weekday rate before coupons and discounts for 2 guests with dinner and breakfast. Please check the linked site for the latest information.

Overview of Kamogawa Grand Tower

Here are the details of the hotel where I stayed this time, Kamogawa Grand Tower.

This time I got off at Kimitsu IC and arrived after about 25 minutes on local roads!!

Parking is free for guests, but you must get a parking ticket from the front desk and leave it visible inside your car.

Check-in

The front desk is just to the right after you enter the main entrance.

Sign on the tablet at the front desk and check-in is done!!

We were handed a sheet titled “For Our Guests” and asked to choose dinner and breakfast times. Dinner can be chosen at 17:30–19:30 in 15-minute increments, so it’s quite flexible.

Kamogawa Grand Tower has a heated bath on the 2nd floor, but guests can use the hot spring at the nearby Kamogawa Grand Hotel for free!

I’ll go check it out later 😍

Two card-type room keys are issued.

The 1st-floor lobby has a bright, modern atmosphere based on white.
There are plenty of sofas, which is handy for meeting up.

Guest Room

Take the elevator on the 1st floor to the guest room floor. The elevator hall uses beige and gold tones and sparkles. There are three elevators.

The guest room corridors are wide, with a calm, hotel-like feel.

This time we stayed in Room 1005.
Hold up the card, click, and in we go.

Living Room

The room has a spacious living room with a red carpet!!
There’s a dining table for four, and at the back a sofa, a sofa table, and a work desk.
The large windows give an amazing sense of openness!

You can step out onto the balcony and look out over the sea at Kamogawa while breathing the fresh air!!

The sofa is designed so you can enjoy a resort feel.
Plenty of sunlight comes in, so it gets hot in summer.

On the dining table are an electric kettle, teacups, and tea bags.
Next to it is the kitchen.

On the work table are indirect lighting, an intercom phone, Resesh deodorizing spray, and tissues.

Kitchen

The room also has a kitchen, so you can buy food at a nearby supermarket and cook!
Open the storage cabinet below and you’ll find frying pans and pots.

Besides mugs and glasses, there is a good selection of tableware.

There’s also a two-door refrigerator of the kind used in a one-person household, and a microwave.

Open the door in the kitchen and there’s a washer and dryer!!
There’s also a laundry drying space, so you can live here just like at home.

Bedroom

The guest room has two bedrooms, one of which connects to the living room.

The bedroom has two beds in a space of about 5 tatami. There’s a window, so it doesn’t feel closed in.
A green yukata sits on the bed (a bit flashy…).

The beds are single size, and the bedroom has a remote-controlled air conditioner.

You rarely see it nowadays, but the bed frame has a built-in radio. The outlets are on the wall side, but there’s no USB port.

Surprisingly, there’s another bedroom in front of the room entrance.

This one has no window and feels closed in, but it’s more than enough just for sleeping!
With two bedrooms, it’s ideal for a family of four with children.

The bedroom closet has plenty of hangers, so hanging up your clothes is no trouble.

Bathroom, Toilet & Washbasin

Kamogawa Grand Tower‘s bath, toilet, and washbasin are all separate.
The bathroom is spacious, and you can enjoy the Kamogawa scenery while you bathe.

The washbasin is similar to one in an ordinary home and is clean.
A blue bath towel is behind the washbasin and a face towel is beside it.

Amenities are provided with the bare essentials: toothbrush set, razor, hairbrush, body sponge, cotton swabs, and so on.

The toilet faces the corridor but is separate, with its own washbasin inside!

Large Public Bath at Kamogawa Grand Tower

Kamogawa Grand Tower has men’s and women’s large public baths on the 2nd floor.

There’s only one indoor bath, but it’s a good option if the bath in your room feels cramped.

The noren curtains show illustrations of a man and a woman soaking in a hot spring. It was my first time seeing that!

You take off your shoes before the changing room, which is divided into lockers with locks and lockers without locks. The indoor bath is on the no-lock locker side, so you have to put your shoes back on once, a slightly complicated flow…

If you aren’t carrying valuables, use the changing room with baskets. There’s a water cooler.

The indoor bath is about 3 tatami in size, so it’s cozy.

Guests can use the hot spring at the nearby Kamogawa Grand Hotel, so be sure to go when you have time before or after dinner.

Hot Spring at Kamogawa Grand Hotel

Kamogawa Grand Hotel has a hot spring with an open-air bath and sauna on the 1st floor, so let’s go. It’s about a 3-minute walk from Kamogawa Grand Tower to Kamogawa Grand Hotel.

Kamogawa Grand Hotel has the large hot spring bath “Umi no Kairo” (Sea Corridor), where you can look out at the sky and sea.

Name	Hot spring large bath “Yuya Umi no Kairo”
Location	Kamogawa Grand Hotel, 1st floor
Hours	5:00–9:30, 11:00–1:00 the next day * Sauna closes at 22:00
Main facilities	• “Umi no Kairo” outdoor bath overlooking the sea and “reclining bath” (Kamogawa Onsen) • “Teien no Yu” open-air rock bath (water using maifan stone) • “Ganban Mugimeshi-yoku” outdoor bath (water using maifan stone) • “Tenbo Buro” indoor bath (Kamogawa Onsen) • “Komyoseki Buro” indoor bath (water using komyo stone) Rest area, sauna, cold plunge

The outdoor area has an observation bath, a stone-bed maifan bath, and reclining baths, so you can relax and enjoy Kamogawa Onsen on a wooden deck with the whole sea in front of you!!

It’s so comfortable and great that it wouldn’t be surprising if they charged extra for it!

Kamogawa Grand Hotel has a dry sauna at about 100°C.
It’s one tier holding up to 4 people and is small, but it’s a sauna where you can sweat plenty!

After the sauna, the classic routine is to take a cold plunge and rest in the lounging area in the open air.

Main Facilities at Kamogawa Grand Hotel

Kamogawa Grand Hotel has a pool, jacuzzi, relaxation corner, and vending machine corner on the 2nd floor.

There’s an outdoor pool and jacuzzi available in summer only (mid-July to around the end of August).
It’s not a very big pool, but it’s exclusively for guests.

Changing rooms are provided for both men and women.

Also on the 2nd floor is a relaxation corner, a shared space where you can read a book or watch TV while sitting in a reclining chair.

There are only a few, but you can use the foot reflexology massage and massage chairs for free!

The space that was originally used as a shop is now a table tennis corner.

Table tennis costs extra: ¥660 (tax included) for 30 minutes.

Dinner at Kamogawa Grand Tower

The moment we’ve been waiting for! Dinner time.

Kamogawa Grand Tower‘s dinner is kaiseki cuisine, served at the Japanese restaurant “Ikesukago” in the 1st-floor lobby. There’s no dinner ticket; just tell them your room number and name and they’ll guide you to an open seat.

Everyone, including the proprietress who runs the restaurant, is kind and very friendly.

The tables are spaced widely apart, so you can enjoy a leisurely dinner.

First, four appetizers. In the middle is baigai, a rare shellfish.
It’s an edible sea snail that lives in deep water, and its aroma and crunchy texture are perfectly delicious!!

A clear soup with edamame and wakame. Light and tasty!

The sashimi is an assortment of four kinds: flounder, amberjack, horse mackerel, and tuna.
I thought it would be a few slices on a small plate, but a really generous amount came out!! All of it was fresh and delicious.

They provide rice for free, so if you want to eat it with the sashimi, be sure to order it!

The steamed dish is chawanmushi. A flat plate loaded with ginkgo nuts, kamaboko, and more!
I ate it while it was piping hot.

Sautéed shimeji and spinach sit on top of white fish, and it’s perfectly seasoned too!!

I’m starting to get full…

The fried dish was tempura, of course!

I thought it would be a small portion, but eggplant, two shrimp, shishito peppers, pumpkin, and shiitake mushrooms is way too much.
Grind wasabi and salt together to make wasabi salt, and dipping in it is incredibly good!

Finally you can choose between “sea bream sesame sauce ochazuke” or “mozuku zosui,” and without hesitation I chose the sea bream sesame sauce ochazuke.

It comes with pickles and kayaku toppings; once the dashi broth is hot, pour it over for sea bream chazuke.

The aroma of the dashi is lovely~!

For dessert, a seasonal fruit plate: peach pudding, melon, pear, orange, grapes, and more.
So full!!

Breakfast at Kamogawa Grand Tower

Kamogawa Grand Tower‘s breakfast is a half-buffet style.
The venue is the same Japanese restaurant “Ikesukago” in the 1st-floor lobby as dinner.

When we were guided to our seats, the meal was already set out.
The tray menu features the Ikesukago salad.

• “Ikesukago” salad
• Katsuo dashi hot pot with tofu, plum flavor
• Simmered black cod
• Dashimaki tamago (rolled omelet)
• Three small side dishes

There are various ways to eat it: as a salad, put it into the katsuo dashi and eat it as warm vegetables with sesame sauce, or finally add rice to make zosui!!
Warm vegetables in the morning are good for the stomach! Delicious~.

The buffet corner has nikujaga, meatballs, scrambled eggs, pickles, natto, nori, rice, and miso soup.

For dessert after the meal there’s yogurt, fruit punch, orange, and kiwi.

Breakfast is gorgeous too and I’m stuffed!!!

My Stay at Kamogawa Grand Tower

This time I wanted to visit Kamogawa Sea World, so I looked for hotels nearby and stayed at Kamogawa Grand Tower.

Since we stayed as 3 adults, it came to ¥11,000 per adult (weekday stay), and it was a bargain price!

The room is over 70 ㎡, with two bedrooms plus a living room and kitchen, and you really can see the ocean from the room.

Walk over to the neighboring Kamogawa Grand Hotel and you can enjoy Kamogawa Onsen with its open-air bath and sauna; dinner is a luxurious kaiseki meal, and breakfast is a half-buffet with the Ikesukago salad.

It’s just 2 minutes by car to Kamogawa Sea World, so access is perfect too!!

It’s a hotel with unbeatable value for money, so please stay here at least once.